Zodac Comes
by tenno
Summary: Explore the origins of Scareglow, Zodac, and a young Duncan and Clamp Champ.


Zodac

The dark night sky seemed propped up by the bright spires of the Eternal Palace. Many of those lucky enough to be spending the night in those spires looked out of their windows and noted the particularly clear view to the stars so far above them. A few even saw what they thought was a meteorite flash unusually close to the palace, leaving behind just the bright imprint of its tail. None saw the man hiding in the shadows of the palace outside one its small residential windows.

Karak Nul waited patiently for even those lingering at their star-gazing to make their way to bed. He was sure of his intelligence. The councilor, Vadis Quo, would be in his rooms soon followed by a routine of meditation, reading, and sleep that he had not broken in more than two weeks. There were some that felt the councilor was dissolving the moral fiber of Eternia by proposing legislation that would require students to study the fundamentals of magic safety when they were just eight or nine. Many felt that magic should be banned from the school curriculum altogether—left to the parents to introduce in their own way.

Some bounty hunters preferred not to know why they had been hired to do the job; they felt like it attached them to the cause. Karak found that one could never have enough information on a man that was going to die. In this case, he had decided to kill the man using a tech-weapon in order to insure that the councilor's death would add no fuel to the fire of his argument. His clients would appreciate that he further demonstrate the dangers of magic. The cape he wore was magic, actually. It had a way of diverting eyes that weren't looking for it. The gloves that let him cling to the surface of the building were magic. And the lens placed over his eyes magically adjusted his vision so that he could see whatever the light without squinting. But for his weapon he had decided on a lava scythe, a blade that generated melting temperatures at the touch of a button to help it slice through tough armor.

The light came on and the councilor entered his room alone. Vadis Quo's family stayed in town when the council was in session. Karak didn't bother checking the time; he knew that the councilor was punctual and predictable. He watched the Vadis Quo disappear into a bathroom, returning in just a pair of loose pants. The councilor went to a desk, his hands lingering over a stack of documents he had promised to read before tomorrow's session began. He noticed that his hand was shaking and dropped it to his side. The work was getting to be very hard. At first, remembering those parents who had contacted him about losing their children to dangerous magic just steeled his resolve. In the beginning, he had felt like he would never tire. Now that his proposals seemed deadlocked in endless debate, thinking of them only made him feel worse. He had run for the position of councilor motivated by a desire to stop feeling so powerless against the small injustices of the law. He pushed thoughts of self-pity away, picked up the entire stack, and took a step towards a good, red reading chair. But he stopped, because he suddenly realized there was a man behind him.

Karak didn't like messing with magic, but the one spell he knew, he knew well. It was a spell that wrapped him in an extra-dimensional energy that allowed him to pass directly through walls. In this case, directly into the councilor's room without a sound. Still, somehow the Vadis Quo had sensed him.

Karak's clothing left no doubt about his intentions. It covered him completely, even leaving his eyes concealed under a mesh fabric. The dark purple and gray colors had been carefully selected not because of the color, but because of the magical property of the inks used to dye them. In his hand was the long curved blade of his lava-scythe.

The councilor sprung for the door. Even Karak was surprised by the old man's sudden burst of speed. It wasn't nearly enough. Before the councilor had taken his second step, Karak had the man by his beard and had jerked him to the floor. Vadis Quo raised his eyes to follow the thrust of the weapon, but he was dead before he saw it.

The Sorceress had read every book she could find on the enforcers. Even Castle Grayskull's extensive library had little information on the subject that meditating on the Spirits of Grayskull hadn't already given her.

This Sorceress was young, even by human standards. The last Sorceress had held the position for over a century. In that hundred years she had never been visited by the celestial enforcers. Their last appearance was recorded just prior to when King Grayskull and the elders had sought celestial justice against the warlock Hordak for his cross-dimensional invasion. The records stated that the mystic enforcer called Zodak met with King Grayskull privately for days, and then left without a word to the Elders. There was no record of the subject of their conversation. Weeks later, King Grayskull sacrificed himself on the grounds of the castle he had built, sealing Hordak away forever.

When she took over as the new Sorceress of Grayskull, she promised to protect it and Eternia against all threats. Since that day, those threats had been minimal. Weeks passed wherein she studied restlessly without any interruption. At times, she desperately craved another's voice, and found herself spying for hours at a time on villages all over Eternia. Sometimes, her heart broke watching the heartache in the lives she witnessed, but her oath made it anathema for her to interfere unless the world itself was in danger. She doubted she would be able to live such a lonely life for as long as her predecessor. She lived without any of the mundane necessities of life. She had no need to sleep. Her muscles and eyes never tired, no matter how long she studied in dim twilight. She had no need of food. Indeed, when she did eat, the food seemed somehow bland in comparison to the feeling of clutching the power she had been given.

When the Spirits of Grayskull informed her that the enforcers would be sending a representative, she both dreaded and welcomed the interruption to her study. Now, garbed in the full magical gowns of the rightful Sorceress of Grayskull, designed to give her the appearance of a protective falcon, she was filled only with the expectation of finally having someone that could answer the many questions she had about King Grayskull and the hero for which she waited. What had the King done? Was Hordak truly gone forever? How could she gaze into other dimensions? Would the hero for whom she waited appear during her tenure as the guardian of the secrets of Grayskull?

The enforcer descended from a clear sky in a ball of light so quickly that she was sure something had gone wrong and that he would crash violently, perhaps even endangering Castle Grayskull. The light did not slow; it simply stopped just a hand's width above the ground.

When the enforcer first laid his eyes on her, he saw the pinions connected under her arm raised over her head, her hands clasped, gathering the power that shielded both her and the castle. She did not immediately let the power go. The man in front of her was like no man she had ever seen. His ship was not a ship at all, but just a chair made of some unknown golden-colored metal. Its only decoration seemed to be a ball of fading light at its back's height and perhaps nine buttons inlaid into the arm at the chair just under the enforcer's right hand. The enforcer himself was thin, with almost translucent skin. His feet were uncovered, gray and webbed. He wore an immodest gray loin cloth and a breastplate of red armor marked with the enforcers' sigil. His helmet seemed made of the same red material combined with what she guessed was the telekinetic controls for his chair—ship. His eyes were covered completely in his helmet by black glass orbs.

He stood. The enforcer seemed to waiver on his own legs, as if there were no bones under his skin. "I am Zodac," he said, his voice calm and slippery, like the words had waited a moment in his mouth before spilling out.

She released her hold on the power, letting the shields slowly dissolve. "I am the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull." She paused, daring herself to ask the question. "Surely you are not the same Zodac that was here centuries ago? Is your race that long-lived?"

The enforcer began walking along Grayskull's bridge toward the Sorceress. His steps were easy, but she still had the impression that something other than a skeleton held him upright. He said, "My people live that long and longer, Sorceress, but I am not the man that counseled King Grayskull. That man was Zodak, mystic enforcer." Something in his pronunciation gave the Sorceress understanding. There was a Zodak and this was Zodac. "The names of the enforcers sound the same to human ears. We are all Zodacqk. For us, there is difference enough."

"Welcome, Zodac," she said. "I am pleased to have a visitor, but unsure as to your purpose here."

Zodac stood just an arm's length away from her now. She could see the fine gray hairs covering his skin. "I am here to determine if there has been a breech of celestial law. It is most likely that the planet Eternia must be allowed to die."

Karak Null followed two guards through the Eternal Palace to a small dining hall that had been reserved for his meeting with a man that many said was gathering power for a coup. The dining hall could sit perhaps twelve comfortably, but with the guards dismissed, there was only Karak and his newest employer. The blue-skinned man wore his dark hair long and straight. He was young; Karak doubted that he could yet grow a full beard. He had not come dressed as the rich man he was. This man was dressed for battle. He controlled a great deal of influence in the palace and vast secret reserves of money, most of it gained dishonestly.

He looked agitated, fingering a goblet in front of him that was clearly empty. "This could have been done through intermediaries, Karak Null."

Karak said nothing. This man knew who he had hired and how he worked. Faceless employers were far more likely to betray, and this looked like a man who would kill his own brother if it would get him what he wanted.

The man sneered, leaning forward in his seat. "I want you to kidnap somebody and take them to Saha'riah, the untamed jungle."

"I do not enjoy traveling that far with my victims, but I will do it if properly compensated." Karak's voice had been clearly altered. In fact, he changed it daily. "Who is the man?"

"A powerful man. A dangerous man."

"Name?" The rich seemed to enjoy rolling in mind games like pigs in mud.

"I have no name for you. He may not have a name at all. He is a celestial enforcer, and I have tracked his ship to the ruins of Castle Grayskull."

Karak listened patiently to a full explanation. His employer assured him that an enforcer could be killed, and that was all that mattered to Karak for the price he would be paid—eleven times that of the councilor. He could retire when this stopped being fun.

Norman and Duncan met over the body of a national councilor. The man had been cut in half be a lava-scythe. The burn meant that there was very little blood. As it had taken place in the Eternal Palace, Duncan was called in to represent the guard, while Norman had been made Clamp Champ, which gave him authority to apprehend the murderer however he saw fit. It was a tremendous trust, and therefore, a tremendous honor.

"This was a professional job," Norman said. He had the dark skin of the men from Kwaan across the Sea of Rakash and a muscular build that spoke of a dedicated routine of training. Norman was often criticized for his inability to work with others. He had no tolerance for distraction once he was working a case. As such, he was unmarried and had few friends, but he was well-respected.

"I agree. The murder is brutal enough to make it a crime of passion, but the lack of evidence points to a professional." Duncan had earned his station as one of the palace guards after proving himself in battle. To many, he was a hero. Unlike Norman, he had many friends—many he had left behind to do this job.

Norman stood over the carpet stain he had been scanning for traces of matter that belonged to the killer instead of the victim. His blue armor was filled with every conceivable device he would need to both investigate the crime and catch the criminal. "I think this might be the one I've been waiting for," he said.

Duncan had fought and killed men. In battke, if he had been standing just to the left or just to the right… He didn't like to think about it. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Karak Null. A bounty hunter who has eluded the designated Clamp Champ for four years, and that's only as long as we've had a name for him. He seems to be able to get in to and out of his victim's homes like a ghost, leaving no trace. In other words, we recognize a Karak Null case as a Karak Null case because it lacks even more evidence than a normal bounty hunter murder."

"He's killed in the city before?"

Norman nodded, inputting evidence into a keyboard on his wrist. "What's more, we had an informant tell us there was word on the street that he would be in the palace last night."

"This murder happened three days ago."

"Exactly."

Duncan's hands clenched into fists. "You mean, that murderer might still be here, planning to kill again?"

Zodac spoke, "The problem is that Castle Grayskull exists on all five of the dimensional planes, though its form can greatly vary and even change. This Castle Grayskull is anchored to Eternia. If something were to happen to the planet, we must be sure that some form of Castle Grayskull survives the destruction or its demise will be echoed across the dimensions. We have strict laws against allowing anything that can echo from one dimension to the next."

The Sorceress tried to be patient, but she couldn't control her constantly wringing hands. "Are you saying that the only reason you might spare Eternia itself is because of Castle Grayskull?"

"Absolutely. Castle Grayskull is far more important to this dimension and all the others than this single planet."

"I am sorry, Zodac. You must give me more time to prepare for this. I am new to the position of Sorceress."

"Surely you realize that your oath to protect Castle Grayskull supersedes your oath to protect Eternia?"

"I did not."

Zodac said nothing. The Sorceress knew that he was actually holding two conversations at once. He sat rigid at the foot of the dais leading to her small throne. He spoke telepathically to the Spirit of Grayskull, exploring some hidden element of their power. Why had the Spirit instructed her to obey him in all things? She should have lashed out against him with all her power the second his cosmic chair came into sight. If he could do what he said he could, they were all in mortal danger. All the families she spied on through her looking glass—they had no idea that everything for which they sought was at this creature's whim. She refused to think of him as a man.

"Zodac, it is my job to oppose you in this matter. Of that, I am sure." He gave her as doubtful a look as he could with his alien features. "I am sure," she reiterated. She wished her voice would stop quivering.

"I am willing to listen to whatever arguments you wish to present, Sorceress, but know that once I have made a decision, it will be final; you do not have the power to stop me." He stood. "It is as I suspected. This planet is being held together by forces that were not designed for such a task."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me of Hordak's Separation."

Finally, she felt useful. She knew some things this arrogant creature did not. "Hordak cast the spell of Separation to end the normal rotation of the planet, cursing fully one half of the planet into eternal cold and darkness."

"Why did he do this?"

She wasn't sure how to answer the question. Hordak's motivations were his own. She could never hope to understand the plotting of a mad man. "I'm sure he did it because he was an evil mad man who preferred to hide his sins from the light of day. He gained a land that no one wanted, that he no longer had to fight to keep." She was proud of her reasoning. It seemed to have no affect on Zodac.

He said, "That is an outrageous motive for so much destruction. Surely you cannot believe that the planet is in the state it's in because a man wanted it to be dark. There are a thousand easier and less destructive ways to go about such a goal."

"Then no one knows why he did it, Zodac. I cannot tell you."

"I know." She was exasperated. He was only testing her. He continued, "I must see what you already understand in order to explain what you must understand.

"Hordak was never interested in conquering Eternia. He was a dimensional conqueror. His spelled failed. He intended to crack Eternia in two and drink from the planet its life energy. Using such power, he would have destroyed one world to gain control of all the others."

The Sorceress took in a deep, shocked breath. "He was truly the greatest evil Eternia will face."

"Perhaps."

"Thank the Spirit he failed."

Zodac's voice remained as emotionless as it had since telling her his name. "He did not fail. He was stopped before his nightmare could reach fruition. This was what Zodak revealed to King Grayskull. This is why Grayskull sacrificed himself, not for a battle, but for the world itself."

"You mean to tell me that the power of Grayskull is…"

"Yes. The only thing holding this planet together. If natural laws were let to play out, this planet would be gone."

The Sorceress was proud that she had steadied her voice and resisted the urge to run into the catacombs to confront the spirits herself. "Then let the castle do what it was meant to do. Leave Eternia be."

"Castle Grayskull was never meant for this. The King's Trollan wizard told Grayskull about the celestial nexus under our feet. He built the castle here to protect it, but in turn, became its worse abuser. Castle Grayskull is drawing on the energy of all the dimensions to keep this one world from ripping itself apart. King Grayskull's act was illegal.

"I have a determined that it is a danger to all life in all dimensions and will remain so until Eternia is gone."

Karak Null could not find any maps of Castle Grayskull. He believed that if he couldn't find them, they probably didn't exist. It was unusual that a castle, even one that needed quite a bit of work, would stay completely vacant for so long. Even squatters seemed to avoid the place. At no point in the last five hundred years had there been even one attempt by some rebel group or small celebrity to occupy the place. Karak wondered what a cosmic enforcer would want with it. His presence was an indication that there was something to the rumors of a hidden power there. Well, he would accomplish two goals today: capture the enforcer and explore the ruins of Castle Grayskull. It would be a profitable venture.

It was Duncan that found the unusual activity among guards and an odd reservation from the powerful son of a councilor. The information wasn't solid. No one had ever been able to pin anything on Keldor, but a man that had been suspected of wrongdoing so many times had to be dirty of something. This case was no different. Duncan had virtually no evidence that Karak Nul was seen with Keldor; no one even knew for sure what Karak Nul looked like. Rumor said that someone in the palace had tried to hire him, and Keldor's room reservation fit the window. Norman vowed to take a special interest in Keldor once Karak Nul was safely behind bars. There would be no bounty hunters if there weren't bad men willing to hire them.

Since the discovery, Norman and Duncan had spent the better part of two afternoons looking through all of the records of anyone coming and going through the palace or the city that didn't quite seem to fit. They didn't expect to find much.

Norman praised Duncan for finding as much as he had. He suspected that Duncan would be a good commander, maybe even a good Man-at-Arms one day.

Using the Clamp Champ suit, Norman could scan each transport and person in the records for any information found in the palace database. Duncan had been accused of being tireless when behind some piece of tech in his workshop. He had been known to work through the night and the next day to get something right. Even with that experience, he couldn't understand how Norman could stare at these records for so long. He had admitted that he expected to find nothing, but he still searched without ever complaining or even breaking. As the records had begun to blur, Duncan had walked away twice just this afternoon; Norman had never stopped sifting through the details.

"Look at this," Norman asked the guardsman.

Duncan's eyes wandered the screen in front of him. Norman had asked him to clarify some military record a few times. Duncan hoped his latest question would give him an excuse to leave the room to go looking for answers. In front of him were the records of three different sky talons, one of the fastest transports in the skies. Few were rich enough to own one. They weren't luxurious, but they were fast. The military had a few—not maneuverable enough for their purposes usually. "I don't know what you want me to see here," he said.

"Not very many civilians own something like that, right?"

"Right." Duncan used the pause in their searching to stretch, especially working at the old injury that had left a terrible kink in his left shoulder. "You think one of those might belong to Karak Nul?"

"No," Norman had a playful look on his face that Duncan had never seen; the man rarely smiled at all. "I think these three different sky talons are actually the same ship." Duncan looked at the screen again. He didn't see whatever Norman saw. The man may have been working too hard. "Look. They all fit the windows we have. One to get the first assignment. This fits the window he would need to do the job. And if he did meet with Keldor, this last window fits exactly."

"But they have different registration… You think he doctored the registration record to hide his identity. That's very hard to do under the new system."

"I trust that a criminal will find the loopholes in any system. And Karak Nul is a good criminal, whatever else he is."

Duncan nodded. "I guess it's possible. Do you know where he went when he left? Have you tracked the sky talon anywhere else?"

"That's what I'm going to need your expertise for."

Duncan grinned. "All right then. Let's get out of here. I'm going to be seeing these screens in my sleep tonight if we don't leave soon." Norman didn't smile, but he was already heading for the door.

Karak Null could not find any maps of Castle Grayskull. He believed that if he couldn't find them, they probably didn't exist. It was unusual that a castle, even one that needed quite a bit of work, would stay completely vacant for so long. Even squatters seemed to avoid the place. At no point in the last five hundred years had there been even one attempt by some rebel group or small celebrity to occupy the place. Karak wondered what a cosmic enforcer would want with it. His presence was an indication that there was something to the rumors of a hidden power there. Well, he would accomplish two goals today: capture the enforcer and explore the ruins of Castle Grayskull. It would be a profitable venture.

The air around Castle Grayskull was thick and still. A vast forest surrounded the castle, contributing to the feeling that the world lay pressed against the ancient stone walls of the ruins. Karak Nul, like many others, had always figured that the ruins had been searched centuries before he was born. As a boy, he heard superstitious stories about the spirits that haunted even the outlying forest and had discounted them. In fact, the castle looked surprisingly sturdy for a building whose past lay outside historical record. What forgotten sorcery had forged its walls, and was any of that power left inside waiting for his ambitious hands?

There seemed to be nowhere to land his craft without walking the bridge itself. The chasm surrounding the castle was impossibly deep. Karak doubted anyone had explored that either. If he tried piloting near the chasm's high winds at low speeds, he risked… Well, he didn't want to be the chasm's next explorer.

Under cover of darkness, Karak wrapped himself tightly in his masking cloak and walked along the bridge that would take him to the drooping skull face of the castle. Karak Null wondered what mad culture would work so hard to shape this entrance wall with horrifying deep eyes and then line its drawbridge with massive, inhuman teeth. And yet, the face seemed more sorrowful than scary. Karak Nul guessed that age had affected the stone after all, drawing its features downward. Perhaps in another few hundred years, the castle would finally plunge into the very chasm that helped protect it.

Karak couldn't help but feel like those eyes saw right through his ensorcelled cape. He marveled that some strange cosmic being would come here, to remote Castle Grayskull for any purpose. It was proof that there was some secret hiding inside these walls.

From the drawbridge, Karak Nul could see the windows far above. That was how he would get into the castle itself. He could tell that it would take a machine bigger than the bridge would allow to drill through the sturdy drawbridge from across the castle's protective chasm. But a strong leap, aided from a weight reducer in his belt, would take him to the walls, where his gloves would grip and his arms would pull him to the open window.

Karak counted silently to himself then launched across the chasm towards the walls. His hands grabbed, finding holds few others would have found. For an instant, he felt securely fastened to the ancient stone, and then the gloves slipped. They never slipped! And then it got worse. Karak realized that he was falling, and the chasm below him seemed to eagerly open wider like a mouth hungry for his flesh. Instinctively, he thrust against the wall with every bit of strength he had, throwing himself back onto the bridge in a rolling heap that caught itself right before going over the side.

Zodac slowly strode to the drawbridge where he would find his cosmic chair waiting invisibly just inside the forest line. The Sorceress pleaded with him to reconsider destroying Eternia. Surely there must be another way to save both Grayskull and the planet. But Zodac's race did not waiver when a decision had been made. They did not reconsider their positions. Being a cosmic enforcer meant examining every problem thoroughly, with every bit of evidence that could be found. This decision had been hundreds of years in the making. It was true that one of their own had helped force their hand, Zodak, but that was just a strange aberration in the equation of what must be done.

The drawbridge opened for him, the castle's spirit obeying his whim the way it would the Sorceress herself. He stepped on the wooden platform connecting the castle to the dangerous bridge. There on the bridge, he saw a man moving towards him with a warrior's grace that would have been appreciated in any dimension. Indeed, without his helmet's vision, he would have been dead already. Instead, he calmly raised a universal stasis blaster that was a cosmic enforcer's weapon of choice. The human was fast, but not faster than light. He hung in the air, frozen in time, where he would remain until long after Zodac was gone.

"An assassin!" the Sorceress exclaimed next to him.

"He will be released when my physical body has left your atmosphere. He seems quite dangerous. You may wish to make accommodations for his imprisonment. It is expected, of course, that you will remain this planet's sole survivor, floating through this dimension safely inside Castle Grayskull. Perhaps you will encounter alien races among the stars and tell them of the sacrifice Eternia made for their universe."

Zodac realized that his inexperience with emotion had just failed him. He was unprepared for the savage attack unleashed by the Sorceress. His armor's shields protected him, as she must have known they would, but only just. He lost his gun along Grayskull's drawbridge, but held his footing.

The woman had gone too far. He could bring the sky itself down on her. The ground would rebel under her feet. He could summon the cosmic chair and take her apart at the subatomic level.

Or he would never have the chance to decide how to punish the Sorceress. Karak Nul, perhaps accidently released by the Sorceress' power or Zodac's own error in losing his weapon, found Zodac's gun. He aimed and shot them both.

The Sorceress' magic winked out. She was frozen. Without the enforcer armor, she wouldn't even be aware that time was passing. Zodac was aware. In his long career as cosmic enforcer, no being had managed to imprison him. And with his own weapon, at that.

Karak Nul moved a little closer, clearly suspecting some type of trap. Zodac felt an uncommon rage building inside of him. First, he had been assaulted by this Sorceress. Now, he was at the mercy of a man who clearly had none.

The man's face moved towards his own. Zodac could see the cold hatred in the man's eyes. "You're dangerous, aren't you?" the man said. "Too dangerous for me trust that your little toy is going to keep you safe for long. Keldor may have preferred you alive, but I plan to take advantage of this open door you've given me. I'm afraid that means your both going to be delivered dead." Karak Nul pulled out his lava scythe. Zodac remembered seeing stars explode from the safety of the cosmic chair. To die at the hands of a primitive knife…

And then he was on the ground again. Zodac wondered for a moment if he had been stabbed.

Norman and Duncan ran towards the explosion of light that accompanied the Sorceress' power. Karak Nul's cloak shielded him from their vision for just a moment, but the bright light of his lava scythe ended the mystery of the fight's sudden finish. Duncan shot and missed. He hated laser weapons anyway. Karak Nul turned at the shot though. He saw a guardsman and a Clamp Champ bearing down on him. He could handle both easily, but it was an annoying distraction.

He reached for a gas pellet on his belt, hurling it towards the Clamp Champ. And down the Clamp Champ went, coughing in the fumes that would soon kill him. And they would have, but Duncan grabbed Norman and pulled him out, all while firing again. And missing. Karak took advantage of the gas to rush them both. Duncan drew his mace, standing protectively over Norman as he caught his breath. He deflected the first swing of the lava scythe, but his mace was nearly cut in two. It wouldn't take another hit.

Karak followed his first swing with an elbow that Duncan took in the helmet instead of the chin by lowering his head at the last possible moment. Without missing a beat, Karak followed with a kick to Duncan's calf that finally brought the guardsman down. The scythe came around again, but this time it was Clamp Champ that decided the fight, kicking upwards hard to send the bounty hunter to his knees. The three men were all on their feet at once, Duncan and Norman breathing hard.

But the fight was over.

Unfortunately for Karak Nul, Zodac and the Sorceress struck him simultaneously, wrapping him in a magic meant to hold him indefinitely and a technological fire meant to burn him to his ashes. Karak was incredibly skilled. Even while fighting these fools from the Eternal Palace, he had seen his bounty recover and had cast his spell of intangibility. But it couldn't protect him from the fury unleashed by the most powerful beings on the planet.

Duncan and Norman watched wide-eyed as Karak Nul's skin was burnt away, all the while, his skeletal body still screaming in agony. The remaining creature clawed at its bones and moaned incoherently, impossibly still living.

The Sorceress spoke, "Yours is a violent race, Zodac."

"Mine is a race of solutions. This creature is still a danger to you now."

The Sorceress closed her eyes. "I bind this creature to Castle Grayskull. He will return to abide within its walls at every sunrise. He will be cursed to touch no one or thing born on Eternia." She looked at Zodac meaningfully.

Zodac found his gun. "I have no intention of returning, Sorceress. Though I expect your evil curse will come back to haunt you, not me."

"Hello," Duncan said. His eyes gazed appreciatively at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "I am Duncan. This is Norman."

Norman interjected, "It was our task to bring in this bounty hunter."

"And our pleasure," Duncan added.

The Sorceress was surprised to find herself suppressing a giggle at the sight of the fawning and handsome guardsman. Before the cosmic enforcer's arrival, she would have given anything to share laughter again with men such as these. She realized that they too would suffer when Zodac passed his sentence on Eternia.

"They saved you," she said. "They are men of this world."

"You do not realize the implications of your request."

"Do you not owe them something? Had they let you die, would not their world have been spared?"

"For at least a thousand years," Zodac agreed.

Duncan and Norman watched the glowing skeleton of Karak Nul slowly disappear. Neither dared move.

Zodac was surprised by his own hesitation. Was he feeling regret? It had been a very long time. "Very well, Sorceress. Mine will not be the hand that dooms your world. This dimension will be sealed from its four siblings, limited to only glimpses. It is spared my premature destruction."

The Sorceress was taken aback. She had saved Eternia. She had proven herself. Tears came and the giggle finally escaped her throat.

"Hold. Your celebration is unwarranted, Sorceress. Castle Grayskull will be barred from drawing on the powers of its sisters, making its power in this dimension finite until Eternia is gone. Every time you use the power of Grayskull, you will draw strength away from the world itself, until Eternia is finally gone."

"But, Zodac, Castle Grayskull's power is meant to protect it from misuse."

"It no longer matters if the castle is taken to me. The castle's power is finite and its lord will become a lord of destruction. However, you are quite clever. I'm sure you will find ways to extend Eternia's life and still protect this Castle Grayskull."

Zodac walked away. The Sorceress did not speak again until she saw his ship launch itself back towards the stars.

"What just happened?" Duncan asked.

The Sorceress considered the men. "You will not remember this encounter. Only that the bounty hunter is dead. But I may call on you one day in the future. Castle Grayskull will need its heroes."


End file.
